With family gone, Obama goes shopping

12/21/11 2:50 PM EST

President Barack Obama took a break from wrangling with House Republicans on Wednesday afternoon for a quick pre-Christmas shopping trip to buy gifts for his daughters and Bo the dog.

After calling congressional leaders to reaffirm his support for the Senate-passed two-month extension of the payroll tax cut and unemployment insurance, Obama exited the Oval Office with Bo in tow and headed to a shopping strip in Alexandria, Va. — a man alone with his dog since his family is already on vacation in Hawaii.

The first stop was PetSmart, a pet supply store that allows animals to shop alongside their owners and play with other dogs, including one named Cinnamon. Bo did just that as Obama walked the aisles and picked up a $24.99 chew toy.

From there, Obama moved on to a nearby Best Buy, where he bought the video game “Just Dance 3” for Nintendo Wii. “This is for the girls,” he told the pool reporters and photographers along for the trip, quipping that they’d never get a photo of him playing the game